Dusk
by Fireshine
Summary: Twilight... without vampires, when Edward moves to town, when Bella and the Cullens are Jerks, when teens have powers, when one person's life gets turned upside down. full summ inside at the bottom of the chapter, please read the chappy before skipping it
1. Chapter 1  first sight

**Chapter 1 – first sight **

My mum drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favourite shirt – thin, white cotton so worn, it had more holes than any of my other clothes; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.

In the Olympic peninsula of Northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was in this tiny town my dad still resided, probably fishing every weekend and working nearly every waking hour in between.

Since I had decided to move here I had quizzed my mum on Charlie and all she could remember about him, something I had never even thought to do before now.

It was to Forks I now exiled myself – an action I took with mixed emotions; I hated the rain, but I fucking _detested _Phill. And Phill, well... that's a long story for another time.

And I fucking loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city; it was my escape. I had never thought of leaving it until my mum mentioned Charlie in passing, I was feeling especially bad that day and my interest was captured.

"You don't have to do this," my mum said to me – the last of a thousand times – before I got on the plane.

My mum looks like me, except with long hair and laugh lines... and the obvious. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, child-like eyes. Shit, how could I leave my oblivious, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself? How could I leave her alone with Phill? I didn't trust Phill at all, but I guess it was me he hated; he adored my mum and she adored him too, but still...

"I _want _to go," I repeated, at first I didn't want to show exactly _how_ much I wanted to go, but it seemed as if this was the only way she was going to let me leave...

"Tell Charlie I said hi."

"I will."

"I'll see you soon," she insisted, "You can come back whenever you want – I'll come right back as soon as you need me."

But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind that promise.

"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, mum."

She hugged me tightly for a minute,and then I got on the plane, and then she was gone.

It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.

Charlie had been okay about the whole thing. He didn't protest too much that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence, for the first time ever since my mum walked out on him seventeen years ago. He'd agreed to enrol me in high school and to help me get a car.

But it was sure to be bloody awkward with Charlie. I wasn't what anyone would call verbose and everything I knew about him came from my mother's answers to my interrogation. I knew he was more than a little confused about my decision; in seventeen years, not a peep, and then suddenly I was moving in.

When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen – just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.

Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting too – since deciding to move to Forks, I had found out that my dad was the Chief of Police there... or _here_ as I should say, now. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of funds, was that while Charlie was at work – his metaphorical wife and kids, apparently – there was zero alternative means of transport... apart from my feet.

We both hesitated for a substantial amount of time before he gave me an awkward, one-armed hug and a pat on the back as I disembarked from the plane. I flinched as he moved towards me but I don't think he noticed since he was trying to ignore the awkwardness, just as I don't think he noticed how tense I was in his hug either...

"Um, nice to meet you, I guess," he said as he stepped away from me, "How's Renee?"

"Mum's fine... she said hi," I didn't know whether to call him Charlie or Dad to his face.

I only had a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mum had tried to drag me shopping for some warmer clothes but there was hardly anything appropriate to be found in Arizona and I got off lightly with a promise to go shopping once I got here. So my two bags fit easily into the boot of the car.

"Er... we can go look at some cars for you next weekend," Charlie suggested.

I simply nodded, wondering how I was actually going to get to school all through the week... wait how was I even going to find my way to school?

"You seem to have a lot of Renee in you," he commented.

"Yeah..."

We exchanged a few more comments on the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for conversation. We stared out the windows in silence.

It was stunning – the view – of course; everything was green: the many trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.

It was so green – a complete one-eighty to what I was used to in Phoenix.

Eventually we made it to Charlie's. Apparently this was the house I spent my first few months of being alive in; this was the house he bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had – the early ones. Shame. Personality wise – from what I had observed so far – I probably would have gotten along with Charlie.

It took only one trip to get all my shit upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The room was pretty generic: plain, blue walls, old net curtains at the window, a small bed shoved against one wall. There was a desk that held a – probably third-hand – computer with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. This was a stipulation from my mother, so we could keep in touch easily.

There was a small bathroom across the landing from my room, which I would have to share with Charlie – practically a stranger. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.

Another thing I learnt about Charlie: he doesn't hover. He left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for my mum. It was nice to be alone, not to have to endure the awkward silence of being in the same room as someone you _should_ know... but you don't.

Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven – now fifty-eight – students; there had been more than seven hundred people in my junior class alone back home. Everyone here had had grown up together – their grandparents had been toddlers together. I would be the new kid from the big city, an oddity, a freak.

After unpacking I made my way downstairs to get a drink, only to stand awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs as I found two more strangers in the house, one my age, one closer to Charlie's age and in a wheelchair, both of native American descent. They were all talking about some game that had possibly been on the TV recently... until Charlie noticed me.

"Oh, um..." he cleared his throat, "This is my friend Billy and his son Jacob; Billy, Jake, this is Edward." He introduced us, gesturing vaguely with his hands.

Didn't even mention I was his son. And judging by the confused looks still plastered across Billy and Jake's faces, they still had no idea who I was and what I was doing here.

Nice.

I gave an awkward wave before going to get myself a glass of water. An awkward silence had settled over everyone – and I had a feeling I was the cause – until Billy announced that he and Jake should get going as it was late and school started in the morning.

Once my thirst was satiated, I grabbed my shit and went into the communal bathroom to refresh myself after the day of travel. I looked at my face in the mirror as I ran my fingers through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but I could see how sallow I was, unhealthy. My skin was pale due to my ginger hair; it was mostly clear of freckles – a small miracle – and the washed out light here just made me look pasty.

Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't just physically that I had never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here? I huffed and frowned to myself, then told myself to suck it up and stop being a whiny bitch and be grateful that I was here. With that, I decisively went to bed.

But not to sleep.

The constant _whooshing _of the rain and wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the out-dated quilt over my head and later added the pillow, too, but I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight when the rain had quieted down to a lighter drizzle.

Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished me luck at school; I thanked him. Charlie left early to go to the station and I was left to sit and ponder for only a few moments at the old square dining table, comparing the kitchen around me to my mum's memories... nothing had changed; before I realised that it would take me a hell of a lot longer to get to school with me walking. I literally startled myself into action.

Thick, damp, heavy fog swirled around me as I walked down the street to the school. It clung to my clothes and by the time I arrived at the school, the exposed skin on my face was completely raw. The hood of my raincoat – that had the distinct feel of a biohazard suit – had become damp on the inside too and was now irritating my bare ears.

Finding the school wasn't difficult – there weren't many wrong directions you could go in in Forks – and I thanked god I wouldn't have to spend more time wandering around out in the cold than I absolutely had to. I walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges to the front office, I took a deep breath before opening the door.

My first impression of the inside of the school was purely: _warmth._ My face stung from the sudden change in temperature, but in a pleasant way, I gave a small moan of pleasure at the sensation. The office was bright and there were potted plants everywhere, like there wasn't enough greenery outside. The walls were hung with various awards and certificates and the was an obnoxiously loud clock ticking somewhere and it made me wonder how the receptionist could stand to sit in the room all day. The receptionist was a large, red-haired woman with glasses, who was manning a desk with multiple piles of sheets, forms and flyers.

The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Edward Masen," I informed her. I saw the immediate awareness light up her eyes; I was a topic of gossip no doubt. Son of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last... I wonder if everyone knew why my mum left.

"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She placed several sheets on the counter to show me and I fumbled in my pockets – then progressing to my bag – as I tried to quickly find my glasses so I could actually see what she was trying to show me.

I was long-sighted so I only needed them for reading – thank god – but my mum wanted to make sure I didn't took like a geek anyway – she looked down on geeks a lot when she was in high-school – so she got me thick black frames with square lenses that she said were in fashion and suited me. I was kinda weedy so glasses would be that final push that would shove me over the edge into geekiness – which was _not_ a good place to be.

The receptionist went through my classes for me, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a slip which I was to have each teacher sign, which I was then to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and, like Charlie, wished me luck on my first day in forks. I smiled back, agreeing that I would need all the luck I could get.

The bell rang as I went back outside and I was now faced with the challenge of finding my first class. I looked up from my map and found myself in the car park, mostly filled with older cars – the only exception being a shiny silver Volvo. At home I'd lived in one of the few lower-income neighbourhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It had been a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student car park. At least whatever I could buy now wouldn't stand out like the Volvo did.

I kept my hood pulled far over my head as I walked to the path, crowded with teenagers. My plain black jacket didn't stand out, I noticed with relief.

If I had time, I would have tried to memorise the map so I wouldn't have my nose stuck in it like a geek all day, but alas, it would not be so. Once I got around the canteen – the map still glued in front of my face, well, at least it hid my glasses – building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner. I adjusted my bag strap apprehensively and took a deep breath before giving myself a little pep talk. No-one was going to bite me. I finally exhaled and walked through the door just as the second bell rang.

The classroom was small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a fair blonde, the other also pale, with light brown hair. At least I wouldn't be the pasty freak here – well, I would still be pasty...

I took the slip up to the teacher, a fat, balding man whose desk identified him as Mr. Mason. Christ, how I hated my young, impressionable, four-year-old self. He gawked up at me once he saw my name – not an encouraging response – and of course, I just wished the ground would swallow me up. Painful or not, my demise would surely be better than this – standing around, in front of an audience, while I waited for the idiot teacher to get over my name – or my presence... whatever was bugging him. Finally, he sent me to an empty desk at the back of the classroom without making more of a spectacle of me. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in the back, but somehow, they managed. I kept my eyes on the reading list laying on the table in front of me, growing quickly relieved when I realised I'd already read all the books on the list. I briefly cursed myself for not thinking to bring all my old work with me while the teacher droned on in the background.

When the nasal buzzing sound, more commonly known as the bell, sounded at the end of the lesson, a gangly – though I couldn't really talk, I was pretty gangly myself – with skin problems and greasy hair twisted round to talk to me.

"Your Edward Swan aren't you?" he looked like the overly helpful, chess club type.

"Masen, actually. I changed my name when my mum remarried." Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

I had to check in my bag. "Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."

There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes, so I settled on the bag that I was still trying to zip up.

"I'm headed towards building four, I could show you the way..." Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Eric," he added.

I nodded, "Thanks."

We got our jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.

"So this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.

"Very."

"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"

"Three or four times a year."

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.

"Sunny," I told him.

"You don't look very tan."

Well, what do you expect from a fucking ginger? "My mother is part albino."

He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humour didn't mix. A few months of this and I'd forget how to use sarcasm.

We walked back around the lunch hall, to the smooth buildings by the gym. Eric pointed out my class to me and then went to his own – thank god he didn't walk me to the door – wishing me luck as he went. What was it _that_ obvious that I would need all the luck I could get just to make it through today? I nodded to him as I walked to the class room.

The rest of the morning passed in a similar fashion: curious eyes boring into me from every direction, being sent to an empty desk at the back... there was also one person who would come up to me and introduce themselves and show me to my next class – at least I didn't have to use the map again.

One girl sat near me in both Trig and Spanish; another over-helpful type who walked me between lessons and to the canteen. She was titch, about a foot shorter than me, but her big bushy hair made up half the difference between us. I couldn't remember her name so I just smiled and nodded as she prattled on about god knows what, I had long since given up trying to keep up.

We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends who she introduced to me – and I forgot all their names as soon as she said them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The guy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.

It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the canteen, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, they were hardly eating and they weren't gawking at me like the rest of the student body, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But that wasn't what caught, and held, my attention.

They didn't look anything alike, of the three girls, one even tinier than Jess – barely reaching five foot and skinny as all hell to match. She had dark spiky hair and pale blue eyes. Another was was tall, blonde and statuesque – the definition of a super model; and the last... chestnut hair, chocolate eyes, slim but still with curves. She was the perfect balance of the other two.

The guys were opposites, one was big and broad with dark curly hair – I definitely wouldn't like to meet him down a dark alley – he obviously worked out, a lot. The other seemed to be his complete opposite, he was medium height, lean and looked like a Californian surfer with his shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes. They all had a look of aloofness about them as they sat, not really doing anything.

You could tell the only reason there wasn't a huge crowd around their table was that everyone was intimidated by their beauty – they all had perfect, even features... either that or they preferred being left alone – something I could sympathise with as Jess captured my attention again and I was drawn into a conversation about hairspray which I didn't participate in much – the most experience I had with hairspray being using it to make the odd flame-thrower, purely for recreational use of course.

Once I had ascertained that it would be safe for my attention – and eyes – to wander, my gaze went back to the table I was looking at before. My eyes ran over them, stopping and lingering most on the petite brunette – the most beautiful in my opinion – until she seemed to sense my eyes on her and look up at me. Our eyes met for only a moment before I blushed slightly – a _very_ annoying habit – and looked down. The girl on the other side of me laid her hand on my arm to get my attention and started jabbering on about something I didn't have the patience to listen to, but I was the new kid here, and I kinda needed the friends.

The third time I stole a glance, it didn't go unnoticed. "Already crushing on the Cullens I see," said a slightly irritated Jessica next to me.

"The Cullens?" I asked, "They don't look related..."

"Yeah, they're all adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Cullen, Rosalie and Jasper are twins and the others are Emmett, Bella and Alice. They moved down here from Alaska a couple of years ago and they're all _together._" she whispered the last part with as much condemnation and shock as she could muster.

"Wow, a five-some."

Jessica looked at me as if my last comment was meant to be taken fucking seriously, "No, Rosalie – the blonde – is with Emmett, and Alice, the tiny one is with Jasper."

"Oh, silly me." That seemed to satisfy Jessica and she launched into another monologue about make-up or something to that effect.

While she was talking I thought about how kind it was of them to take in so many kids... which left me wondering why they were so isolated from everyone else. Then I was glad I wasn't the only freak here, maybe we could make a gang of outsiders... but another glance at them told me that that wouldn't go down too well with them. As my eyes roamed over Bella she looked up and narrowed her eyes at me before looking back at her adopted siblings.

I ended up being sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would've had I been sat alone, getting lost after lunch would be just what I needed on my first day here. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that she was called Angela, had biology with me next period. She walked on one side with one of the guys who was sat the other end of the table – possibly named Mike Newton – while Jessica and Lauren walked on the other side as far as we were headed in the same direction, supplying enough conversation for the five of us between them.

When we entered the classroom, Mike and Angela went to sit at the black-topped lab tables that were exactly like the ones back in Phoenix, one small, familiar detail. They both already had neighbours, in fact, everyone had neighbours, bar one. Next to the centre isle I recognised Bella Cullen by her long shiny hair, sitting next to that single open seat.

I walked past her to go and introduce myself to the teacher, feeling selfconscious as I felt every pair of eyes in the classroom bore into me. And as a result, I turned into a klutz. I tripped and fell into Bella Cullen's table. There were giggles and chortles coming from everywhere in the classroom – apart from the seat next to me. She suddenly went rigid in her seat. She stared at me, meeting my eyes with a hostile, furious expression. I looked down quickly, surprised and going red again and stumbled my way to the front of the room.

Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no shit about instructions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes averted as I sat down next to her, trying to console myself with the fact that it was only one person who hated me so far, and I would only have to sit next to her for one lesson.

I didn't look up as I set my book on the table and got my glasses out. I saw her huff and flip her hair over her shoulder, and then shifted to the other side of the desk. Fucking _fine then._ I rolled my eyes and bent over my work, letting my hair fall into my eyes – a long standing defence mechanism. I had no idea what about me bothered her, and I wasn't going to worry my fucking head off over it.

I tried to pay attention to the teacher, but unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy which I had done before. I took notes anyway, to keep me occupied for the hour – I don't care if I only just met her, sitting next to anyone who seems to hate you for an hour is long and uncomfortable.

I could see her hand balling into a fist and her jaw clenching as if I was angering her by just sitting here. I sighed – which just seemed to irritate her even more – and continued with writing my half-arsed notes. I spent the half of the lesson doodling in the margin of my note book, until I snuck another look at Bella – she still looked like she was sat on a stinking cactus. Then she turned and glared at me and the phrase _if looks could kill_ ran through my mind briefly, she then jumped up and raced out of the classroom as soon as the bell went.

No wonder they were all sat alone at their table, it wasn't because of their intimidating looks or because they kept to themselves, it was because they were jerks... well, I know Bella was a jerk, to be fair I couldn't really say that about the rest of them. I guess in her case beauty was only skin deep.

I started to gather my things, her abrupt departure a sore reminder that life wasn't fair and that maybe fresh starts weren't always possible. I moved slowly, obviously miffed at the turn my day had recently taken. Then the guy that walked with me and Angela after lunch came up to me and my mind chose that moment to go completely blank.

"Hi... sorry, I knew your name an hour ago, I promise."

"Mike," he smirked at me.

"Hi Mike."

"Do you need any help finding your next class?"

I checked my schedule briefly, "I've actually got PE next, I think I can find it."

"That's my next class, too." He seemed excited, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school this small.

It turned out that – now he could actually get a word in edgeways – he was quite chatty, although nowhere near as chatty as Lauren and Jessica. He told me things about himself and not the incredibly superficial things like how much make up he wore and how long it took him to do his hair that morning. He told me he had lived in California till he was ten so he knew how I felt about the sun and assured me that – although I probably would never _like_ the weather – I would eventually get used to the rain. It turned out he was in my English class as well and, apart from Angela, he was the nicest person I'd met all day.

But as we were walking into gym he asked, "So I see you've met Bella Cullen."

"Is she always like that?"

"Yeah, her and Rosalie are the worst. They usually glare and ignore anyone who comes near them, but she seemed especially pissed off today."

"Fucking great," I muttered to myself. Mike just chuckled and turned to go to the lockers while I went to find the teacher and hand him – or her – the new kid slip.

The teacher told me to just sit and watch today since I didn't have anything to change into. So for another whole hour I sat with nothing to do and using minimal brain capacity; all in all, apart from the whole Bella Cullen incident as it shall now be forever known, it was a pretty good afternoon.

When the final bell rang at the end of the day, I hurried out of the hall and walked to the office to return my paperwork. The weather hadn't improved since this morning, although the rain had eased up slightly, the wind was stronger and colder, rendering my hood ineffectual and useless. I wrapped my arms around myself.

I almost moaned in pleasure once I reached the warm office, like this morning. But I managed to choke back the sound threatening to slip from my lips.

Bella Cullen was stood at the desk in front of me, I recognised again the long mahogany tresses. She didn't appear to notice my entrance so, to keep it that way, I leant against the back wall and waited for my turn, slightly thankful that I got to spend more time in the warm.

She was arguing with the receptionist in a sweet and innocent sounding voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument; she was trying to trade from sixth-hour biology to another time – _any _other time.

I just couldn't believe all this fucking commotion was about me. It had to be something else, something that had happened before I entered the biology room. The look on her face must have been about some other aggravation entirely. It was impossible that a stranger had taken such a sudden intense dislike to me.

The door opened next to me, bringing a cold gust of wind in and making me shiver. The girl who entered dropped a piece of paper in a wire basket but was noisy enough to draw Bella Cullen's attention to where I was. As soon as she saw me her face went from mild irritation to pure, all-consuming loathing and abhorrence. I was taken aback by the strength of her hate for me but she quickly turned back to the receptionist.

"Never mind, I can see it's impossible," she spat hastily and disappeared out the door, like I was contaminating the very air she was breathing.

I watched her blankly for a minute before sliding up to the desk and placing the signed slip on it.

"Are you okay dear?" the receptionist asked, obviously she hadn't missed what had transpired between Bella Cullen and me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just not looking forward to walking to walking home in this weather."

"Oh, poor dear, don't you have a car?"

"Nah, I'm meant to be getting one at the weekend and Charlie's still at work." I shrugged and turned away to begin the long, _cold_ walk home.

I was _so_ grateful that Charlie had told me where he kept the spare key. I fell through the door in my haste, actually landing on my front and kicking the door closed behind me. I lay there shivering for a bit, until I had finally warmed up enough to be able to move. Once I did, I shed my boots and coat and bag and went to find a radiator to lay against and further defrost my fingers and toes.

I had never known this kind of cold was possible.

Once I had melted, I looked in the cupboards and the fridge finding only the most basic of ingredients. I sighed and decided I could make omelette later, there was no way I was going out in _that_ again tonight.

For lack of anything better to do, I did the homework that I had got today, keeping an eye on the time, as was habit by now. Charlie had said he usually got home by seven and I was a little nervous about that. At quarter to seven I started making his omelette, using the bacon, cheese and mushrooms. I had found some old pots of spices that I sprinkled a little of in the batter to make it a little less bland and hoped Charlie would like it.

I put his plate on the table at seven and then turned back to the cooker to make my own, before gasping and turning abruptly to the fridge. _How could I have forgotten?_ I placed the open beer on the table and _then_ went to make my own omelette. My hands were shaking slightly as I heard the door open, maybe this was a bad idea, maybe I should've gone to the shop and got some decent ingredients to make a decent meal. I started panicking.

I fumbled around with my omelette as Charlie came into the kitchen, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Oh," he grunted in surprise and I started wondering if I was even allowed to make him dinner. "You didn't have to do this Edward."

Shit. Crap. Fuck. "I'm sorry, Charlie, I didn't mean anything – I didn't know, I – I'm sorry..." I started rambling. I also started hyperventilating and I could feel tears gathering in my eyes as I tried not to burn myself with the pan as I tried to look busy... I don't know why I always did this, it never worked.

"Edward." I cringed, almost knocking the pan on the floor. "I didn't say that you weren't _allowed._ Just... never mind. Thanks for the food."

I nodded taking a deep, cleansing breath now that it appeared nothing would happen and finished plated up my own food and joined him at the table, still not looking directly at Charlie... Maybe living here wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

**A/N - ok so usually this goes at the top but i like being different... mostly**.

**And I know that practically all of that chapter was taken directly from Twilight, but as the story progresses, there will be more of a difference although Dusk will stil follow a similar plot line **

**so, the summary:- when Edward Masen moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious and bitchy Isabella Cullen, his life is turned upside down and the truth about his life and his parents are uncovered. As Edward begins to learn he truth and what will become of him when the time is right, he begins to draw the attention of the Cullens and people he's not yet ready to face.  
**

**please please_ please_ review this one!**


	2. Chapter 2 open book

**Chapter 2 – open book**

The next day was better... and worse.

It was better because it wasn't raining yet – a huge fucking blessing since I was walking to school again - Though the clouds were dark and opaque. It was easier because I knew what to expect of my day. Mike came to sit by me in English and I walked with him and Eric to my next class. They were both headed in the same direction as me. And people stared at me less too.

I sat with the same group of people that I did yesterday – only now Eric was there too – and I could actually recall most of their names. I began to feel like I was treading water instead of drowning in it... although that may also be because I wore more waterproof shoes today and my feet had stayed mostly dry – I had learned yesterday that there are few more miserable things than having wet feet for the entire day.

It was worse because I was tired, due to the rain hammering on the window and keeping me up all night; it was worse because when Mr. Varner picked on me in class, I got the answer completely wrong and giggles ensued – I never pretended to know the answer. It was miserable because, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tune out Jessica or Lauren, and they both had the uncanny ability to sneak up on me and ambush me with streams of verbal assault throughout the day.

The only time I got any peace was in biology. Bella Cullen wasn't there so I didn't have to endure catching her haughty glares out the corner of my eye all the time, so biology was great... even though Mr. Banner was still covering work I had already done.

I also managed to talk to Angela a little more today. She, like me, didn't do well with a huge audience, and was very quiet even without one... it was too bad she already had a lab partner for biology. Oh, and she was quite pretty too, in a conservative kind of way.

Then in gym I was the only wearing a long tracksuit and a long sleeved top – a sensible decision, I thought, considering the weather here – but everyone else was in shorts and t-shirts... and it was going to stay that way. I don't care what the teacher says, there is no way I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. End of.

Mike even looked at me weirdly when I went to change in private. Sure, _they_ might have no problems with it, but I wasn't going to put my body on show like that... there would be too many awkward questions. Not even my mum has seen my body since I was seven.

After I had changed back into my normal clothes, I checked in my bag to make sure I had the money; then I stopped off at my locker to shove all the unnecessary shit in there. Then I walked out into the deserted car park and tried to recall the directions to the supermarket. Since discovering the bare state of the cupboards last night I thought it was probably a good idea to restock.

Besides, Charlie eventually admitted that he couldn't cook much other than fried bacon and egg, so it was probably for the common good if I took over kitchen duty. He then handed over the metaphorical keys to the banquet hall and told me where the food money was... which reminded me; I would have to get a job pretty soon.

I then realised that I would have to watch where I stepped if I didn't want to end up with wet feet. Although it may not have rained that day, there were still puddles from yesterday, lurking around, ready to pounce on the next unsuspecting innocent walking down the street.

I swore and lifted my foot up to inspect the damage. Just then a silver Volvo rounded the corner carrying Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett and Alice Cullen. Of course the Volvo would have been theirs. It seemed excessive that they should have both looks and money, but that was the way the world worked... plus, it seemed like they'd paid the price with their personalities as they all just looked blankly out the windows and the car went past.

The supermarket wasn't far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highstreet. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. I did the shopping at home, and I fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. The store was big enough inside that I couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where I was.

When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever I could find an open space. I hoped Charlie wouldn't mind. I wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.

I didn't have as much homework today and none of it was due in any time soon, so I decided to check my emails... after I had changed into something more comfortable than wet jeans and wet socks. Why the hell had they banished the sun from this land?

I had three emails; all from my mum; each more frantic than the last. I had been in Forks for less than seventy hours – less than three days and she was already panicking. She was probably sitting at home on the computer right now, waiting for an email from me. Shit, maybe I should've sent her one yesterday.

I sent her a quick email telling her to calm down and that I was fine first. It literally took ten seconds to write. Then I began the long detailed essay that she would want on my first day here and how I was liking it and shit. I made especially sure to drop a few names so she wouldn't be worried that I wasn't making friends. I had never had very many friends and my mum had often had periods of panic, thinking I was being bullied at school.

I had always assured her that school wasn't the problem.

I included the locations of various items that she had lost _already._ I told her I was missing her – which I was – and that I was missing the sun – again, which I was – but made sure to tell her I wasn't missing her so much that she should come and get me. I also told her my observations of Charlie – my mum knew I had a low opinion of Phill, I just wasn't allowed to tell her exactly _how_ low.

One of my worries was: now that I wasn't there, would he start on mum? Or was it just me that he head? Of course, I didn't send this; I just asked her to keep me updated on what was happening back in the land where the sun still shines.

I decided to read _Wuthering heights_ again – the novel we were currently studying in English – again for the hell of it and so that I could actually remember what happens in it – something I would need to know if we were doing it again in this class.

When the time came, I went downstairs to take potatoes out and put the steak in to broil. I was putting the food on the table when Charlie came through the door. Again, this made me panic a bit... Ok, it made me panic a lot.

"Edward?" he called out when he heard the plates being put on the table.

Who else would it be? "Hey, Charlie, welcome home." I had started calling him Charlie some time last night, he didn't seem to mind so I just stuck with it.

"Thanks." he hung up his gun belt – another reason I was so panicky around him – and stepped out of his boots as I bustled around the kitchen. I wondered if he had ever had to use his gun...

"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. My mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. I was surprised, that he seemed to remember that far back; especially since he had never attempted to contact me since the divorce.

"Steak and potatoes – nothing fancy," I answered, and he looked relieved as he sat down in the same space he did last night.

He nodded and started to dig in as I sat down across from him. We ate in silence – neither of us minded the quiet and it was finally starting to feel a little less awkward between us now. We both leaned back in our chairs once we had finished and apparently Charlie felt obligated to say something.

"You made any friends at school yet?"

"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's a guy called Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception.

"You not met the Cullens yet then?"

Ah, so even Charlie knew about their reputation. "Yeah, I sit next to one in biology. She's not nice but not overtly hostile either," I shrugged, it didn't really bother me too much that she seemed to have a problem with me just like she did with everyone else.

Charlie shook his head, "No respect for anyone, those kids. I don't understand it; Dr. Cullen is a great man but those kids... they all have a superiority complex so huge I'm surprised they could all fit in forks. Probably because they're all so pretty. That kind of attitude is just asking for trouble, it won't be long now before we have some serious problems with them, mark my words." Not only was that the longest speech I had ever heard Charlie make, but it also put a little smirk on my face at one point. Wow.

I cleared the table and started washing the dishes while Charlie went to sit in front of the TV for the rest of the evening. I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my maths homework. I could feel a tradition in the making, and oh what a fun tradition this was.

That night it was finally fucking quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.

The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday, I was able to recognise, if not name, almost all the students in the school. At lunch, I had a regular seat between Angela and Mike, I hoped they didn't mind but I used them as a sort of barrier between me and the rest of the table. In my mind I had started seeing Jessica and Lauren as sharks searching for every detail of my life... most of which I wouldn't part with for anything.

Everyday I would get my lunch and sit next to Angela and my the time everyone else had arrived we were in a conversation. So far, we had discussed books, music and had an epic debate about the merits of _Wuthering heights_ that spanned over two lunchtimes - we had only agreed to disagree towards the end of lunch yesterday. Today's topic was the weekend, Angela was baby sitting her brothers both days as her parents were going away for the weekend... neither of us wanted to speculate further about what would be happening then.

It was in these lunchtimes that I began to find out that Angela was perhaps the perfect girl... well, pretty damn close to perfect. She was pretty, but she always tried cover it up by wearing conservative clothes and pulling her hair back into a boring bun. She was smart. She had a similar appreciation of books, music and biology as me. She was trustworthy. The most important. Yet she had little confidence. I suppose I couldn't really talk there as I know my confidence was shot, but still, she had nothing not to be confident about.

I was more comfortable around her than I had ever been around anyone before but my mum.

My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house and got ahead on my homework, trying to forget that Charlie had promised to help me get a car this weekend. I guess he was the empty promises kind of guy... still, I preferred that to Phill, why couldn't _he_ have been an empty promises kind of guy? Why did he have to follow through with _everything?_

I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework and wrote my mum an exaggeratedly cheerful email. I did walk to the library on Saturday – it wasn't raining at that moment and I was bored – but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would have to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookshop... But then I remembered that I had no way of getting anywhere that wasn't in Forks.

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.

It was happily not raining on Monday morning as I walked to school, but it was colder and I was reminded of what a piece of crap my coat was. I shivered violently from the moment I stepped out the door to the moment I sat down in my first period class. Mike took his accustomed seat by my side and we had a pop quiz on _Wuthering heights_. It was straightforward, very easy.

All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here. Mike and Angela were fast becoming good friends while everyone else had calmed down a bit about the appearance of the new kid and weren't watching my every move like I was the most interesting experiment ever.

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white.

I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose and my shivering picked up worse than it was this morning.

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the path and swirling erratically past my face.

"Ew." Snow. There went my good day.

He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"

"No. That means it's too cold for rain." Obviously. "Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes — you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-

tips."

"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure I have." I paused. "On TV."

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us — in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking as I spoke. "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside."

He just nodded, his eyes on Eric's retreating figure.

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the New Year. I kept my mouth shut. Sure, it was drier than rain — until it melted in your socks... and there was no way I wanted wet feet again.

I walked quickly as I could to the canteen with Jessica – as far as I was able to without being in danger of slipping on the wet and slippery path. My eyes kept scanning the area for incoming balls of mush; Jessica thought I was hilarious but something about my expression kept her from lobbing one at me herself. As if I needed the added cold on my already raw face.

I was sure I would get used to the temperature in time, just as I was sure I would get used to the rain in time, it was just the getting used to it part that I wasn't enjoying particularly.

Mike caught up to us as we entered the canteen with snow melting in his hair – I didn't understand how his head hadn't got frost bite. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the fight – more like a miniature civil war – as we got in line to buy food. I was still shivering by this point and had trouble mustering up the willpower to unwrap my arms from around my body, so I stood staring at the food, battling with my arms until I started to hold up the queue.

Jessica pulled on my arm.

"Hello? Eddie? What do you want?" Oh, that was another thing, Jessica and Lauren had taken to calling me Eddie – possibly the worst nickname in the universe.

"It's not choosing what I want that's the problem, it's actually physically picking the chosen food up that's the problem." I informed her while demonstrating the problem my arms were presenting splendidly as a fucking freezing breeze from the open door swirled around me.

I'm not sure how well Jessica and Mike understood me, "What's wrong with Edward?" Mike mumbled in Jessica's ear while watching me with half-wary, half-concerned eyes.

"My arms are too cold to be able to pick up the food," I answered simply.

"Oh," Mike and Jessica laughed as they kindly picked up some pizza for me and put it on their tray. I followed them through the line to the register – and away from the door – and managed to remove one arm from my body long enough to dig out my wallet from my pocket and give it to Jessica to get the money out, and then again to put my wallet back in my pocket.

When we got to the table, I took my usual seat beside Angela and sat staring at my food wondering how I was going to eat it... although I had started to warm up a bit by now.

"Is that the only coat you have?" Angela asked incredulously as she stared at me shivering on the seat next to her.

I nodded, "I'm from Arizona, remember? I had never even seen a coat in real life before coming here. Plus I haven't had the means to shop for one here yet."

"The _means_ to shop?"

"Lack of money and lack of transport. I suppose the lack of money thing isn't really that bad, I mean I still need to find a new job soon, but I'm not desperate. It's mainly the lack of transport thing." Another point about me, I'm shy... until I get comfortable with people, then I'm actually quite chatty.

"Beware, Bella's back," Mike chuckled in my ear from the other side of me.

They were laughing. Jasper and Emmett had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice, Bella and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else — only they looked more like a scene from a film than the rest of us. I noticed Bella giggling and again saw how physically attractive she was, it was almost a shame that she had to be a bitch.

I rolled my eyes, "Ugh, I think her cold shoulder might be the last straw to turn me into an ice cube. Never mind the walk home."

"You have to walk home? In _that_ coat?" Angela asked.

I shrugged and nodded, "I haven't got round to getting a car yet, remember?"

"Edward, if you want, I could always give you a lift home, this weather is brutal to be walking outside in."

"Really? You wouldn't be going too far out of your way?" I asked, sounding like a kid asking Santa Claus if he will really get the big expensive gift that he wants for Christmas.

"Sure, it's no problem," Angela nodded.

I threw my arms around her. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you! I love you Angie! You're the best friend _any_one could _ever_ have in the _whole wide word_!" I sang as I smothered her.

She chuckled, "Oh Edward. You're like an excitable puppy... Ok you can let go now if you want." she suggested while tugging at my arms a little.

"But you're my hot water bottle," I pouted as I reluctantly let go of her and decided that if I didn't eat now, I wouldn't until I got home... if I didn't faint from lack of food by then.

Mike interrupted us then — he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept silent. I would have to hide in the gym until the car park cleared... dammit, then I would miss my lift. Ugh, I would have to risk the snowballs, I would just have to dodge out of the way all the time.

I didn't really want to walk to class with Mike as usual — he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers — but when we went to the door, everyone besides me groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood up, secretly pleased. I would be free to go straight home after Gym – without the double-oh-seven impression.

Mike kept up a string of complaints on the way to building four. I guess I could see where he was coming from because now I was steadily becoming soaked.

I entered the classroom dripping wet with Mike and Angie, cringing when Mike shook his hair out all over both of us. I ran a hand through my hair which was dripping into my eyes and internally sighed when I saw that Bella was already in her seat.

I sat in my biology seat, ignoring the enraged glare that Bella Cullen gave me. I refused to be scared away, I wasn't in Phoenix anymore, I didn't have to take anyone's shit lying down anymore. She could glare and huff all she liked, I wasn't going to let her get to me. Unfortunately, today was the day that Mr. Banner decided he would give us a lab to do today – which meant I would somehow have to communicate with Bella. _Fun._

Mr. Banner started handing out the microscopes, the slides of onion root tip cells and a sheet to mark the answers on. I had done this lab before. It would be easy... if I actually got to look at the slides. When I turned to Bella to get started, she was already looking at the third slide.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Edward Masen, your lab partner... I think it's meant to be part of the deal that I get to look at the slides too," I said, holding out my hand as if to shake hers.

"Look," she said as she finished writing out which stage of mitosis slide three was and turned to look at me, "I'm doing us both a favour. If I just do it, it will be faster and we'll get them all right."

"You ever heard the expression: _it's the journey that's important, not the destination_?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's a load of bullshit; I'm not putting _my_ grades in _your _hands. I want my grades to reflect _my _ability, not yours. You will _never_ be as intelligent as I am, you will never be as strong as I am, you will never be as attractive as I am! You understand me? Look at you with your weedy, pathetic little arms and your stupid glasses 'cause you can't even fucking _see_ properly. You will never be as good as me! So stop thinking you are," she seethed at me.

"Well at least I know I have something better than all of that."

"Oh, yeah? What the hell is that then? You don't look rich to me," she snarled sceptically.

"A fucking decent personality," I snapped back before turning to face the front of the classroom, "Oh, and once you're done with the microscope, can I have it? I want my grades to reflect _my_ ability."

I sat there gripping my pen so hard I felt like I should be crushing it – but of course my weedy arms wouldn't be up to the job would they? I fought back angry tears as various memories of Phill over the years assaulted me, sparked off by her words. I was grateful when the microscope and slides slammed down on the table next to my elbow. I quickly busied myself with writing down the answers in my notebook. Once I began to calm down, I began to feel eyes boring into me from the seats around me. How loud had mine and Bella's argument been? My eyes flickered to Angie who gave me a sympathetic smile, then I looked to Me thike who grinned at me and then gave me a thumbs up. I smiled and immediately felt better.

I had finished with the microscope and was doodling in the margin of my notebook when Mr. Banner came up to me and looked over my shoulder at the answers I had written down. He then glanced at the worksheet with Bella's answers in front of her before turning his eyes back to me. "Have you done this lab before?" he asked.

I smiled sheepishly, "Not with onion root."

"Whitefish blastula?" I nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement back in Phoenix?" I nodded again and Mr. Banner walked off mumbling unintelligibly under his breath. He seemed to be put out that I was in an advanced placement course before.

I went back to doodling for the rest of the lesson, studiously ignoring the stares that were searing hole right through me. "Why didn't you tell me you were in AP Biology before?" Bella hissed.

"Oh, so now you know I was in AP bio, you're gonna let stupid, pathetic me do the labs with you?" she just stared at me, her silence telling me the answer she was now unwilling to give since I had called her out on her bitchiness, "You need to get over yourself." I said deliriously happy that the bell rang as I said that so I could walk away before she could reply and before I got too wound up.

I slowed down once I got outside the classroom and stopped to shove my shit in my bag which I had neglected to do earlier as I was more intent on getting out of there than anything else. Mike soon caught up to me, laughing and clapping me on the shoulder. He was loud so I knew he was coming, but the hand on the shoulder was unexpected and I flinched and jumped away from him... I think he just put it down to him just startling me.

"Shit Edward, congratulations man! I've never seen anyone get the best of Bella Cullen like you just did! Her face when you told her at least you have a decent personality! That was priceless! You should've seen it, but you were looking at the front. And the way you told her to get over herself... Genius!" I felt my ears start to burn as I looked at my feet.

I frowned, "I wasn't too harsh was I?"

"Ha! Hell no! She's had that coming for ages!" Me and Mike walked to gym like that while I blushed hard and ducked my head at all the stares we were getting. I repeatedly asked him to shut up about it, but he refused, saying that the occasion should be celebrated. I was just glad that no other Cullen was in our gym period – more specifically _my_ gym period since it was _me_ that said all that to Bella – they all looked pretty intimidating opponents in any sport.

Gym seemed to take forever to end, people kept coming up to me and ask me if what Mike was saying was true or not; each time my face would get hot enough to fry several eggs and I would mumble a quick yes to whoever was asking. I was distracted and selfconscious all through the lesson, I was so distracted that I didn't notice when a ball came flying towards me and, as a result, it crashed into the side of my head and almost knocked me over.

When we were let out, I hurriedly changed – everyone had gotten used to the fact that I always changed in privacy, now – and rushed outside to avoid any more interrogations. I scanned the car park once I got outside for Angie's car. I didn't have to look too hard though, because I soon spotted her jumping up and down and waving excitedly to me. I jogged over, the sooner I got in the warm, the better.

I slid into the passenger seat shivering only slightly this time and sighed in contentment as I sank back into the seat and watched as the dismal rain ran down the windows and the puddle we just drove through spray all over the path.

"So, don't try to spare my feelings or anything, but how bad was it? Was the whole town waiting for the arrival of the new kid or something? I can imagine this place doing that."

"You could say it was something like that. The news came only a couple of days ahead of you though, quite a shock really since no-one knew the Chief had a son- oh!" she cringed as soon as she let the last part slip.

"It's ok Angie. I knew he never really cared for me or anything, I had never even heard of him until a few months ago. He knew where I was, but since he never made an effort to contact me, my mum never spoke of him... I guess she didn't want me feeling neglected by him or something." I shrugged.

There was a slightly awkward pause.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Angie asked, trying to change the subject.

"Not really," I answered honestly, instead of pretending to be normal like everyone else.

"Arizona doesn't like the cold," Angie mused looking at me out the corner of her eye and smirking.

"Or the wet."

"Why on earth did you decide to move to the wettest place in the continental US then?" she asked incredulously.

"It's… complicated."

She glanced at me, concerned. "You sure you don't wanna talk about it? I mean, complications in Phoenix, then moving to a town you hate with a dad who was never really there... some pretty heavy stuff you've got on your shoulders there Ed."

I sighed and started picking at a loose thread on the knee of my jeans, "Yeah, I suppose..." I trailed off, thinking of the best way to phrase it, "Life wasn't great in Phoenix, mum's second husband Phill is an arsehole, but only to me and yeah... I liked the city and I love my mum more than anything; but when she accidentally mentioned Charlie in passing, I kind of latched onto the idea of coming here."

We pulled up outside Charlie's house and I reluctantly got out the car thanking Angie for the lift and agreeing enthusiastically to her picking me up in the morning. I shut the door and jogged up to the front door, easily reaching up and grabbing the key from under the eave and I was just about to unlock the door when I heard Angie calling me; I turned around.

"Just because Charlie may not notice your presence, doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't," she said with an ever so slight pink tinge to her cheeks, in fact, I may have imagined that part.

Nevertheless, it still put a lump in my throat. I smiled and called out a hoarse thanks and waved before retreating into the house. I was touched – and now I was _really_ missing my mum...

* * *

**A/N - again, a fair bit of this was taken straight out of Twilight... but i hope you can see where the differences are starting to appear right?**

**and oh my god, does no-one like this story? i know the first chapter never gets many reviews, but _one? seriously?  
_**

**i know you guys can do better than that, come on!**


	3. Chapter 3 phenomenon

**Chapter 3 – phenomenon **

I was panting heavily when my eyes shot open in the morning. I had been here a week so far and had no nightmares – I hadn't even realised they were a potential problem – so why were they starting now? Why a whole week after leaving Phoenix?

"_No, no, no..." I chanted to myself as I hurriedly fried the vegetables. Stir fry was the quickest thing I knew how to make, but it wasn't quick enough. I flinched at the slamming of the door as if the sound itself had harmed me. I couldn't help the small whimper I let escape through my lips. _

_Phil came into the kitchen and I could practically feel his eyes scanning the kitchen for his dinner... which was still in the frying pan. "Where's my dinner, boy?" I heard Phil say as he stalked up behind me. _

"_I'm sorry! I really am, I'm just stupid and I had to stay behind in school but I lost track of time and I'm sorry I just need a little more time, it's almost done I swear just give me five more minutes and I'll have it ready by then I promise you just-" he cut me off. _

_He was right beside me now his hand fisted on the counter next to my own which was holding the pan-handle. "Five minutes? That's five minutes too long boy, my dinner should have been waiting for me when I got home and now you dare to ask for five more minutes?"_

_I flinched and looked at him for the first time; I knew that glint in his eye, I knew it always meant trouble for me. I cowered away from him, leaving the pan on the stove – which was definitely not a good idea. "Please, I'll have it ready."_

"_Not good enough," Phil snarled and tossed the frying pan at me. The hot oil splashed all over me, the majority landing on my t-shirt and forearms with a few splatters on my neck. The frying pan landed on my raised arms and, thankfully, before it could burn me permanently, it dropped to the floor. I backed away some more, slowly entering the living room; Phil was still coming at me, my burning t-shirt was stuck to my front and suddenly Phil sped up. _

_He caught me by the collar of my t-shirt and spun me round and smashed me into the glass cabinet to my right. The shards fell around me and some were trapped between my back and the wall, cutting me even more as Phil landed a powerful punch to my stomach. He let go of me then and I fell to the floor, a prime target for kicking, Phil must have thought._

I got up from my bed, still lost in memories of that night. Mum had phoned at seven, saying that she wouldn't be home that night, she would just crash at work, and probably the next night since her shifts were so close together. I had almost cried when Phil told me.

I looked at my face in the bathroom mirror; I could see the ghost of Phil hovering over me. Keeping eye contact with myself, I took my top off. My mum hadn't come home for four days, including the weekend, and I had gotten a lot of my scars then. I looked at my left forearm, tracing the scar from the burning oil – it wasn't overly noticeable, just an area of slightly discoloured skin, but I had known my mum would notice it. That's when I started wearing long-sleeved shirts.

I couldn't go swimming because of the scars from the glass on my back. I couldn't feel the sun on my arms because they were scarred. I couldn't even change in gym properly because of Phill... I didn't notice when the tears had started, but they had and they were flowing freely down my cheeks. I looked at my ugly, pitiful body and couldn't help the look of disgust that twisted my face.

What Phil said, what Bella reiterated for me yesterday... it was all true.

I was unlovable.

Then I felt even more depressed. The worst part was, I didn't even understand what it was about me that was so repulsive – I had no idea why I made everyone hate me... apart from Angie and Mike – as for everyone else was concerned, I wasn't sure what to make of their gossip-mongering ways. I studied myself in the mirror once again, I saw my ginger hair and my pasty skin, but they were nothing overtly unusual and I saw my scars but Phil had hated me from the get go, long before I had the evidence of his hatred printed out like a fucking scripture on my skin.

Frustrated at not finding what it was – as per usual – I got in the shower.

When I got out of the shower, it was light enough to see that there was no fog veiling my window. I hopped over to the window and looked outside only to groan in horror.

A fine layer of snow covered the yard and whitened the road. But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid — coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly ice slick. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.

Charlie had left for work before I got downstairs. In a lot of ways, living with Charlie was like having my own place, and I found myself revelling in the aloneness instead of being lonely. I guess anyone would prefer being in an empty house than with Phil.

I threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton. I felt happier about going to school today, now that Angie was picking me up.

Thinking about her led me to thinking about what she said while dropping me off yesterday. I could tell they were meant to be kind, and at the time, I really thought she was paying me a compliment, but how could she? What was there to compliment about me? I shook my head, it was the damn nightmare messing with my head again. I was _not_ unlovable. I had to keep telling myself that until I actually started believing it.

I heard a beep from outside and walked out the door, grinning. Today, I would be warm in the morning. It took every ounce of my concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to Angie's car, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish. The drive passed with minimal noise and conversation after Angie's giggling at my obvious absence of balance, so I found my mind wondering, it didn't go anywhere much and I ended up almost falling asleep due to the lack of earlier.

Although I did acknowledge that, once the hype about me being the new kid had died down, Jessica and Lauren weren't so bad... it was just that first impressions were hard to shake.

We arrived at the school then and was glad my thoughts had taken a more benign direction in time to face school and socialise. I wouldn't have to force a smile so much then. I got out the car, and looked towards the school briefly before almost slipping on the ice, I decided I needed to concentrate a fuck load just to be able I make into the school in one piece. I sighed and looked at my feet, tuning everything out because I knew that if I got distracted and looked up abruptly enough, I would be flat on my arse quicker than I could say 'ow'.

I was concentrating so much on staying vertical that I didn't hear the high pitched screech until it was painfully loud. But by then it was too late.

I looked up, startled.

I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in films. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work much faster, and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once.

Everyone was stood with their faces turned towards me, the same mask of horror adorning each one – even the Cullens had shown some emotion. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of Angie's car, and I was standing between them. I closed my eyes and cringed in anticipation of the collision.

Oh god, I'm seventeen and I'm going to die. I had only just escaped from Phoenix too! The irony wasn't lost on me; although why I would be concerned with that, I had no idea.

Just before I heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around Angie's car, I felt a sharp tug on my bag and I was falling backwards; my feet abandoned ship at the first sign of trouble and went flying out to god knows where – its not like they would get far, considering they were quite firmly attached to my legs and all – and I landed flat on my arse – not even time to say 'ow' – but this time, I welcomed it... even if I did crack my head on the ice.

Painful heat radiated out across my scalp from the place where I hit my head. My eyes watered as my head bounce back up and I pulled it forward, not wanting to hit the tender flesh again.

I heard a soft 'ow' coming from behind me and realised that I had also managed to knock Angie over – you know, 'cause she was the one that pulled me out of the way and shit – due to my clumsiness, which was about the worst thing that could happen at that moment since the van had curled gratingly around the end of the car and, still spinning and sliding, was about to collide with me again.

Only this time, Angie was in the way too. She sat with her head against the car, the distance between us and the van decreasing rapidly.

I scrambled on the ice for a minute and launched myself at her, rolling us to the side and out of range of the van. The van had finally stopped moving and the adrenaline left me shaking, all I could do was breathe out a relieved sigh and collapse – even though I was lying down.

"Are you alright?" I asked Angie in a low whisper as chaos whirled around us.

She nodded and looked up at me with big, grateful looking eyes. "Thanks."

We both sat up and the throbbing in my head – which, so far, had been quite dull – suddenly intensified and I started seeing fuzzy dots in front of my eyes. I swayed on my arse, but fortunately didn't fall over and managed to slowly get to my feet.

The ambulance arrived then and me and Angie were taken to be seated in it to be checked over – with me being the retard that I am getting into a panic over the fact that someone was touching me, at least my flinching could plausibly be attributed to pain. It turned out that both me and Angie had hit our heads and would need to go to hospital, especially since my head was bleeding... quite a lot actually.

We were taken to hospital in that ambulance while Tyler was being removed from the car, he would probably go to hospital in the other ambulance that was just arriving.

Me and Angie rode to the hospital in silence, the paramedic halting the bleeding at the back of my head and telling me I would need stitches. Looks like I wouldn't need the excuse of Halloween to be Frankenstein's monster.

We got to the hospital – which was really quiet due to the size of the town it was in, seriously, it was like a ghost hospital... was it actually Halloween and I had just somehow missed it? With me being Frankenstein's monster, Tyler being the bloody zombie all in a ghost hospital... Angela could be the cute victim. Then we were taken to the A&E department and were seen to almost straight away. I had to go and have some x-rays and so did Angie.

Waiting for the results would have been pure hell... if Angie hadn't been there; not satisfied with just saving my life, she saved my sanity too; because if I'd been left alone with Tyler, I'm positive I would've gone mad with all the apologies he was making, both to me and Angie – I had made sure he was alright I got annoyed at him, of course. He said he would make it up to us somehow... what was he planning on doing? Letting _us_ almost run _him_ over? I doubt that would make either of us feel better.

Finally Angie drew the curtain between her and Tyler's beds. "Good thinking," I whispered.

"Thanks – for the compliment... and for, you know, saving my life," she said shyly.

"_You're_ thanking _me_ for saving your life? Angie, if _you_ hadn't save _my_ life first I never could've saved _your_ life! _I _should be thanking _you_ – _you_ should be thanking you!"

"Can't we just agree that we saved each other's life?"

"I suppose... Well, one good turn deserves another."

"Isn't that from..."

"Alice in Wonderland I think."

"Cool."

"What? Alice in Wonderland or the fact that I'm the only teenage male in this school that actually reads books of substance instead of _playboy_ magazines?" I cocked an eyebrow in mock challenge.

"Er... both?"

"Correct."

We both started snickering then at the absurdity of the conversation until Dr Carlisle Cullen came in and Angie's eyes jumped out of her head started molesting him. I thought about nudging her and calling her out on her little – or not so little – crush... but I thought it would be mean to do that right in front of the object of her affections.

At least she didn't try to flirt with him or that would be really weird.

He dealt with Angie first telling her to take the day off school – while shooting me a few strange looks. Oh shit. He heard about what I said to Bella yesterday and is probably going to kill me... ok now I'm being overly melodramatic – he told her to go home and rest, but not to drive, and get someone to wake her up every couple of hours tonight – just in case – and she was free to go. By the feel of my head, _I_ would have to stick around to get stitches.

After Angie had been given the all clear, she stood up and left giving me a small wave and telling me she hoped I would be out of here soon too.

"Now, Mr Masen," Dr Cullen turned to me, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," hopefully the doctor would put more stock in my opinion than the paramedic.

He walked to the lightboard on the wall over my head, and turned it on, confirming that I had nothing more than a lump and a bleeding scalp.

"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? I heard you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine," I repeated; it looked like the doctor would be just like the fucking paramedic, "Just needs stitching back up."

The doc's cold fingers probed lightly along my skull, stopping when he found the lump and the source of the bleeding. He quickly got to work stitching me up properly, telling me that after this, I was free to go. But I had to take the day off school – which I had absolutely no problem with – and to come back if I had any trouble with my eyesight and that someone should wake me up every couple of hours tonight.

I wondered if Charlie would be able to do that... Would an alarm work?

As soon as the doc stood up, I flung my legs off the bed and stood up, desperate to get out of this sterilized hell, even if I had to walk. As I took my weight onto my feet, I swayed a little and Dr Cullen reached out to steady me, holding me cautiously for a second before guiding me to the bed gently.

"Take it slowly, you've been sat down for ages and you've hit your head... Do you have anyone here to take you home?" he asked, concerned.

I shook my head, "I don't think so, and Charlie will be at work for ages yet."

"Hmm, perhaps you could phone someone?"

I shook my head again, "I don't have a phone and I don't know anyone's number apart from my old one in Phoenix."

He paused thoughtfully to consider the epic conundrum of getting me home and it occured to me that Dr Cullen is the nicest doctor I have ever met – which is even more surprising considering he's the adoptive father of the least nice people in the school. Unfortunately, I can't seem to stop that thought escaping me, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Woops. I felt like such a fucking idiot as my stupid blush forced its way onto my cheeks; I _really_ hadn't meant to say that. I expected him to get offended, but instead he just chuckled and said, "I didn't know I had to give a reason for being nice."

"Sorry, it's just that I've never met a doctor so concerned about a patient before..." I bit my lip to stop myself from blurting out anything else.

He chuckled again, "Don't worry," then he sighed sadly before continuing, "Plus I know you've already met my children... I try to teach them respect but they just won't have it. I'm sorry for any trouble Bella might have caused you."

I shrugged.

Then Dr Cullen returned to business, "Are you sure there's no-one to take you home? What about one of the people in the waiting room... actually, I think it's possible Chief Swan just might be here after all. Should we go see who can give you a lift home?"

I nodded and thanked him before standing up again – slowly this time – and making my way towards the waiting room with Dr Cullen by my side. I almost stumbled as a thought suddenly occurred to me... he was the first man I hadn't been afraid of.

"Edward? You alright?" Dr Cullen turned to me wearing his familiar concerned look.

Nodding I explained, "Yeah, just tripped over my own feet. Don't worry, it happens an awful lot."

He eyed me for a moment before turning forwards and leading the way to the waiting room...

Where I was immediately attacked by Angie. I stumbled back a bit as she threw her arms round me but was pretty proud when I actually managed to stay on my feet.

"Hey," I said as she let go of me and stood back.

"Hey. Sorry about that I was just glad to see you were alright too, I mean you were bleeding _a lot._" she bit her lip as she looked at me.

"You feel bad about that don't you?"

She nodded guiltily.

"Don't. Believe me, I'd rather have a smack to the head than have to be scraped off the road and carried home in a jar."

"Nice image," Angie said as she wrinkled her nose, it was kinda cute.

I shrugged, "It's what would've happened if you hadn't pulled me back. Just face it Angie, you're a hero... I kinda owe you my life."

She smiled shyly at me, "Wow, I never thought I would ever save someone's life..."

"Well, you did and you were awesome."

Angie blushed again and she looked so pretty. She was about to go, dunno where but I caught her hand as she turned to leave. I made sure I only grabbed it gently – I knew what it was like to be forced – and blushed myself as she turned back round to look expectantly at me.

It was a spur of the moment idea... which I was no longer thinking so highly of. But I was committed now... I had to talk. "So, umm... do you er, wanna go out with me? You know, some time when we're both recovered?" oh god, this was an awful idea and now I feel incredibly ridiculous and stupid. I am _such_ a fucking retard.

I don't know when I let my eyes drop to my feet, but I lift them up to see Angie's reaction – she was just looking at me in shock... was this good or bad? With my luck, I was going to go with bad, I was working off seventeen years of experience here and that is some _pretty_ strong evidence for the 'bad' side.

So I was a little surprised when she smiled widely and squeaked "Sure!"

I exhaled in relief and replied, "Great, I umm... you'll be in school tomorrow?" she nodded, "Cool, we can arrange a date or something then?"

Angie nodded.

"Oh, do you know if you car's alright? It must be some money to fix," I asked wincing at the mental image of what had probably happened.

"Well, the insurance should cover it and, since it's not my fault, any damage the insurance does cover, my parents will pay," she replied and hurried off to her parents who were both still wearing big expressions of relief over the fact their daughter was alive. I stood awkwardly at the side of the waiting room praying that no-one else would notice me, not that I didn't like anyone else... its just that my day had been full of enough squirming under the spotlight today and I really needed a break from the attention.

After a few minutes, I saw Dr Cullen heading over to me, giving me another of his scrutinizing gazes, it was at these times I felt like I was under a microscope... but still no panic. "I've called the station and Chief Swan will be over here shortly. Why don't you find a seat to wait for him?"

I nodded and sat down wishing there was a way of avoiding the crowd gathered in the hospital. Jessica and Lauren were the first ones to converge around me and launch into an interrogation, Eric was next followed by Mike and a couple of others.

After half an hour of waiting, Charlie made it to the hospital. He came through the door, parting the crowd easily as he casually made his way over to me. Watching his approach: long, purposeful strides, decked out in his police uniform complete with gun, heading straight towards me. I couldn't repress the panic welling up inside me, my eyes wildly darted around looking for escape...

Although, I already knew that I wouldn't use any escape I found; partly because I was a coward, and partly because people would think I was afraid of Charlie. While that would be true, the reasons they would conjure up would not. With such a small town such a rumour would spread like wildfire, the townspeople would become suspicious of the chief of police and even when it was revealed that Charlie was completely innocent, the damage would still be done. Oh god, it seemed excessive and egotistical to think that my reaction could affect the whole town... but I couldn't stop worrying about the scenario that just played out in my head.

Dr Cullen appeared by my side, "Ah, Chief Swan. Your son doesn't seem to have any serious damage, just a small lump and a cut at the back of the head, but just in case, it would be better if he was woken up every couple of hours tonight and obviously he won't be able to drive tonight but if you want to go get his car from school later, he would be able to drive tomorrow."

Dr Cullen looked at me expectantly, as if he wanted me to tell him where my imaginary 'car' was. I shrugged and mumbled, "I don't have a car," shoving my hands into my pockets and looking down where it was safe.

"Oh," Dr Cullen was surprised but tried to recover, "Well, I guess that's one less thing for you to do tonight, just concentrate on getting lots of rest and not sleeping for too long in one block. Looks like you had a lucky escape."

"Yeah, Angie was really quick," I agreed.

We left then, climbing into the cruiser which served to be another reminder that I had pulled Charlie straight out of work. I seemed to be so much trouble for a man used to living on his own, would he be mad that I made him leave work? I felt guilty and stared mostly at my hands folded in my lap as Charlie drove us home in awkward silence. It was depressing that I couldn't even make conversation with my biological father, it was even more depressing that I was physically afraid of him.

The day was spent watching sports on the TV: baseball, football, hockey... I started to wonder if the TV actually received any other channels. Charlie made us sandwiches for lunch, then ordered a take out for dinner. I think I even started to relax a little in his company; he had gone upstairs to change as soon as we got home and let me sprawl out on the settee, giving me a blanket in case I got cold. It was still awkward, but it was better than it had been.

As we watched the games, Charlie occasionally shouted at the TV as if the teams could hear him, it was quite funny actually. At one point he got particularly irate and I couldn't hold in the giggle that was bursting to come out. Charlie looked at me as soon as he heard and the panic took hold automatically, I bit my lip and my eyes widened as my body prepared to run.

"I'm not the only one who does it! You should see Billy and Jake when they're watching a game, they're much worse than me!" I laughed again with relief and at the jokingly defensive sight of his face.

I waited until the earliest reasonable time to go to bed before sending an email to my mum. I told her everything that happened, including the date with Angie and a promise to update her on how it went, but excluding the accident, she didn't need to worry about me; since I knew that a complete absence of worry was impossible, I aimed to keep the worry as low as possible. Turning the ancient computer off, I went to bed.

* * *

**A/N - you seeing where i'm moving away from twilight, even though the plot is still quite similar?**

**and for anyone who's reading any of my other stories... im sorry! theres something wrong in my brain, i just cant write fluff! **

**last request, i promise:- review?**


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